The present disclosure relates to techniques for inventory control and, in particular, to techniques for generating an inter-store inventory transfer.
Retailers often encounter the situation in which some stores are out of stock of a particular item (often referred to as a “SKU” after its associated stock keeping unit) while other stores have surplus stock for the same item/SKU. Such situations can lead to either loss of a sale or markdown. The common approaches to rebalance inventory include strategic inventory allocation, replenishment from a central warehouse or distribution center, and inventory transfer between successive replenishments. However, none of these approaches provide real-time inter-store transfer decision making to satisfy an in-store customer's demand. For omni-channel retailers, quick responsiveness to in-store customers is important for generating revenue and maintaining customer satisfaction while minimizing overall cost-to-serve.